


Please Put it Down

by deathwailart



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Banter, Gen, Pre-Mass Effect 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-05
Updated: 2014-09-05
Packaged: 2018-02-16 05:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2258271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathwailart/pseuds/deathwailart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein Shepard isn't the only one who loves model ships; Miranda Lawson and Joker upon him joining the Lazarus Cell and the allure of the model Normandy SR-2</p>
<p>Written for the prompt Miranda + Joker: please put it down</p>
            </blockquote>





	Please Put it Down

She reminds herself that having flight lieutenant- _Joker_ , she mentally corrects herself, _he prefers to be called Joker_ as part of the team is going to be a huge boost, especially given the circumstances surrounding Shepard's death but still, he's enough to give her a damn migraine. They reached out to as many of the old Normandy crew as they could because familiar faces will help, familiar human faces at least although she's got the dossiers for those who can help them because right now, they're not turning down any aid, not when the fate of humanity is at stake but right now, the Normandy SR-2 is all human. And EDI.  
  
She hasn't told Joker about EDI yet, that can wait until they're all on board and heading out because this has to work and Joker isn't just the sort of friendly face Shepard needs to see, he's a damn good pilot itching to get back in the cockpit and everyone she discussed the matter with throughout selection was just as impressed as she was with what he pulled off on Ilos.  
  
Though perhaps she should have listened to that warning from Chakwas after all when she too agreed to join up.  
  
"Jeff-" she starts only to be instantly interrupted.  
  
"Joker. C'mon, if we're going to be working together you might as well know my name, Mir-"  
  
"That's Operative Lawson to you."  
  
"Sheesh, is everyone this touchy? You'd think with the reputation you guys have you'd at least _try_ -" Joker shuts up the instant she sighs but he's grinning and it'd be so easy to just throw out a warp field, not even a particularly powerful one, all things considered. "What?" She has never seen a better textbook example of shit-eating grin until today and given the people she's met? Well that's saying something.  
  
"We have work to do, if I could direct your attention-"  
  
"No freaking way!"  
  
Before she can do much more than blink, something has Joker's attention – it's like working with a damn child though she suspects that he wouldn't be like this with the Alliance, that it's because it's Cerberus he's with now that he's giving her such a hard time. Then again, he watched Shepard being spaced after he was thrown in an escape pod after not wanting to abandon the original Normandy and she can't actually imagine what that must have been like, to watch your friends and comrades, your ship, your commander, to watch your whole life go up in flames when you can't reach out and do anything about it. She at least managed to get Ori out and safe. She'd initially thought of him, like Adams, to be Alliance to the core but perhaps she's underestimated just what Shepard still is to the people who knew the person behind the icon, who were there for the crowning of the first human Spectre.  
  
Still, it's been a long day and she has to go to the lab and run tests which of course means dealing with Wilson who she'd quite happily slam between the ceiling and floor until he's nothing more than fine red mist. She has no time to deal with a flight lieutenant who won't sign the last few forms she needs him to sign because he's just lifted the scale model of the Normandy SR-2 from its stand on her desk to start piloting it with his hand in the space between them.  
  
"Put it down."  
  
"Ask nicely."  
  
She grits her teeth, lifts her chin, stares him down the way she's stared down countless mercenaries and thugs but of course, he was on Shepard's crew and there's a strange sort of loyalty she's become accustomed to already regarding that through tales of their exploits so she's hardly surprised that he doesn't exactly pay attention to her words.  
  
"I'm not going to ask you again." She uses the tone that's turned even hardened krogan battlemasters into frightened children, her pistol aimed right between the eyes, blue glow of biotics in her fist.  
  
"Live a little, it's my baby, closest I've been to flying in I don't wanna actually say how long," he retorts. Miranda knows how long it's been, down to the hour, the minutes, probably the seconds but the only person more aware of that is Joker because she didn't expect his reaction when he joined up, that crack in his voice when he said 'I can fly', as if it she wasn't even there. She gives herself a mental shake because it's not the time to be distracted.  
  
The model of the Normandy SR-2 rolls as he executes a sharp turn through the air, Joker going so far as to make a quiet 'pchoo' sound throughout.  
  
She relents. "Please put it down."  
  
"See?" He grins again, leaning forward to ever so gently set it in the little stand on her desk. "Was that so hard?"  
  
She grits her teeth and smiles, the way she learned back before she ever joined Cerberus and she was a thing her father made in his image. Joker grins right back and she thinks about his file, about having Vrolik's syndrome and having to prove he's better than everyone else, that he isn't getting by on charity. They couldn't be more opposite and yet...  
  
"And done!" Joker's voice cuts through the mental fog as he pokes the pile of documents back towards her, his electronic signature in all the right places. "Do I get to see her?"  
  
Despite herself, she smiles because it's infectious really, he can't even sit still now. "Of course, I'll get someone to escort you down there."  
  
"Thanks! You don't-"  
  
She cuts him off by signalling for the door because she's got work to do, someone in Cerberus colours appearing to escort him. "Welcome to the team, take some time with her and get familiar with the controls, we need you ready."  
  
"Don't tell me how to do my job," he mutters under his breath and she can't help it, she has to hide her laugh by reaching for the model.  
  
"Take this, you might need it." She doesn't know why she does it but he catches it, just about, a moment of fumbling before he's cupping it in his hands. He nods to her and she nods in kind and wonders if this is what she should expect for the rest of the mission ahead.  
  
The silence of the lab later – well, relative silence, she's used to tuning out Wilson's rantings and grumblings by now – is a welcome escape.


End file.
